Tethering / hotspot / speed ?

I currently have a d-1 and use ‘easy tether pro’ to tether my laptop ( it uses a usb cable). It works perfectly with no glitches. I live in the boonies and use a verizon fivespot mobile 3 g hotspot for house internet wifi.

When trying to watch old tv episodes from the internet I have found tethering my lap top with my droid gives faster connection ( less buffering interruptions in movie) than using the home wifi. However there are still several significant frustrating buffering waits with the droid.

My question is if I get the d-3 can I expect any improvement with this issue and would the d-4 be any better than the d-3 ?

That I can't answer because I don't know. What I can tell you is that using foxfi with a 4g phone (Motorola bionic) is very quick and reliable. Someone else might be able to chime in and give you a more direct answer. Unfortunately I can't. I wish I was that knowledgeable though.

That I can't answer because I don't know. What I can tell you is that using foxfi with a 4g phone (Motorola bionic) is very quick and reliable. Someone else might be able to chime in and give you a more direct answer. Unfortunately I can't. I wish I was that knowledgeable though.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

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Thanks for the app name anyway.. My assumption is that the newer devices will not help much but I would like to hear a more educated opinion than my own.

Staff MemberPremium Member

Thanks for the app name anyway.. My assumption is that the newer devices will not help much but I would like to hear a more educated opinion than my own.

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Wired tethering will be faster overall.

If 4G is available in your area, it will mostly if not definitely fix the buffering issues you are having. However, 4G is much more power hungry, so having it plugged in will be necessary, if you are watching TV shows.

If 4G is available in your area, it will mostly if not definitely fix the buffering issues you are having. However, 4G is much more power hungry, so having it plugged in will be necessary, if you are watching TV shows.

Your 3G speed is your 3G speed. The modem on some phones is better than others but I have not noticed any real difference in speed on my wife's OG Droid to my DX to my buddy's D3 (I'm assuming the D3 I'm getting Tuesday will be the same). Run an app called Speedtest (available in the market) or you can go to Speedtest.net to see what is faster. I will say that good Verizon 3G is faster than regular DSL. Not sure what you are using but it might be your router, I'd run that test on your home computer that is actually wired into the router, not wifi and see if it is markedly faster. I mean it will be faster but if you are getting like 1.0mbps down on wifi and 20mpbs down on wired... it could be the router. Also realize that the network load on the 3G is going to be different at different times. I can see over 2mbps down very late at night or early in the morning but have trouble hitting 500kbps down during work hours or in the evening.

Your best bet would probably be to upgrade your home internet to something that does not suck if available. As crappy as cable modems can be, they are still more than fine for streaming movies. I usually see 15-20mbps down on my Crapcast cable modem. If you happen to have access to FiOS, you should be on the phone with them yesterday to get it installed as it is simply ridiculous as far as speeds go. I'd hit 4-5mpbs on actual downloads and ping over 40mbps consistantly. LTE is actually very similar, I've seen LTE speeds in NYC and Philly over 30mpbs, it will be a problem if you are using it for a home network to watch movies and do not have a grandfathered unlimited data plan though as you can blow through even 12gb in a few hours on LTE no problem.

Your 3G speed is your 3G speed. The modem on some phones is better than others but I have not noticed any real difference in speed on my wife's OG Droid to my DX to my buddy's D3 (I'm assuming the D3 I'm getting Tuesday will be the same). Run an app called Speedtest (available in the market) or you can go to Speedtest.net to see what is faster. I will say that good Verizon 3G is faster than regular DSL. Not sure what you are using but it might be your router, I'd run that test on your home computer that is actually wired into the router, not wifi and see if it is markedly faster. I mean it will be faster but if you are getting like 1.0mbps down on wifi and 20mpbs down on wired... it could be the router. Also realize that the network load on the 3G is going to be different at different times. I can see over 2mbps down very late at night or early in the morning but have trouble hitting 500kbps down during work hours or in the evening.

Your best bet would probably be to upgrade your home internet to something that does not suck if available. As crappy as cable modems can be, they are still more than fine for streaming movies. I usually see 15-20mbps down on my Crapcast cable modem. If you happen to have access to FiOS, you should be on the phone with them yesterday to get it installed as it is simply ridiculous as far as speeds go. I'd hit 4-5mpbs on actual downloads and ping over 40mbps consistantly. LTE is actually very similar, I've seen LTE speeds in NYC and Philly over 30mpbs, it will be a problem if you are using it for a home network to watch movies and do not have a grandfathered unlimited data plan though as you can blow through even 12gb in a few hours on LTE no problem.

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Thanks for the detailed information... I guess I was not to clear on my home Internet service. My only options are satellite or 3g. We had satellite and it was very weather temperamental. So we switched to Verizon 3g.

The load on 3g is news to me and makes a lot of sense as far as buffering being bad one night and a lot worse the next.

I do have a grandfathered in data plan and according to the sales person at the Verizon store (I know..... NOT a very reliable source) we should she 4g by the end of summer. So this will definitely influence my desion between getting the d-3 and the d-4. If by some miracle we do get 4g I would really regret getting the d-3

If you don't have unlimited data and are using 3g as your home ISP I would highly HIGHLY suggest taking a look at Sprint if available in your area. They still have unlimited data and like I said, you will blow through even the biggest Verizon data plan in a few days with LTE because you can do so much more with it. No point in having it if you can't use it ya know? 2gb on LTE is like having a Ferrari with a 2 gallon tank... I will say from experience that Sprint 3g is not always as fast but it does vary. Verizon is mostly faster where i live but its not always true and if you are very rural the load on their towers might be less, youd have to test the service out yourself. Sprint has better service at my work than Verizon does as an example. If you MUST stay with Verizon I do suggest getting a 4g phone right now and take advantage of the "double the data" promotion which you get with a new 4g phone or 4g upgrade. This means the plans are 4/10/24gb instead of 2/5/12gb. The 10gb for $50 is easily the best deal but you might want to spring for the 24... depends on your use and what you think you'd use with the ability to download a 5 gigabyte file in a half hour on LTE... I just blew through about 30gb tonight on my home ISP if that shows what high speed does to a person lol.

Also, Sprint is going to be going LTE too as early as next year if the deal with Lightsquared goes through so you would get the crazy speeds eventually and be unlimited to boot.